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An Inventory of Butterfly Species in Relation to Food Sources and Climatic Factors Influencing Their Diversity and Richness in a Semievergreen Forest of Bangladesh

Md. Ashraf Ul Hasan
Department of Zoology, Jagannath University, Dhaka-1100, Bangladesh

Sufia Akter Neha
Department of Zoology, Jagannath University, Dhaka-1100, Bangladesh

Mohammad Abdul Baki
Department of Zoology, Jagannath University, Dhaka-1100, Bangladesh

Mohammad Quamruzzaman Babu
House-25, Road-18, Sector-11, Uttara-1230, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

An inventory of butterfly species in relation to food sources and climatic factors influencing their diversity and richness was studied from March 2015 to February 2017 in Satchari National Park. We recorded 195 butterfly species representing 125 genera under 21 subfamilies and 6 families. Nymphalidae was the more dominant family contributed 32.8% of the total species followed by Lycaenidae (25.7%), Hesperiidae (24.6%), Pieridae (8.2%), Papilionidae (7.7%) and Riodinidae (1.0%). The highest species diversity and richness were reported from pre-monsoon. Out of 195 species identified in the Satchari National Park, 79 species (40.5%) were observed sipping out only nectar from different flower sources while others obtained their food from both floral and non-floral resources such as puddles, excreta, carrion, rotten fruit and blood of vertebrates. Highest number of butterflies were documented from Lantana camara (73) followed by Chromolaena odorata (60), Leea indica (30), Tridax procumbens (23) and Mikania micrantha (15) respectively. The butterflies were most frequently attracted to white flowers (52.2%) during nectar feeding. Temperature was positively correlated with the total number of species (r=0.417, p=0.04) whereas rainfall and humidity were negatively correlated with the total number of species (r=-0.43, p=0.03 and r=-0.50, p=0.01).

Keywords: Butterfly; Diversity; Richness; Food sources; Climatic factors; Semi-evergreen forest.

Location: Satchari National Park.

Start Date: 00-03-2015

End Date: 00-02-2017

Program Area: Pest Management

Commodity: Butterfly

Objectives:

The prime objectives of the present study was to annotate an inventory of butterfly population in the Satchari National Park; to study the food sources relative to the occurrence of butterflies; and to evaluate the relationship between different climatic factors and butterfly population in the park.

Methodology:

The study was carried out from March 2015 to February 2017. Data were collected based on monthly 5 days fieldworks but deviations from this plan did occur due to unavoidable reasons. The butterflies were monitored during sunny day hours (07:00-16:00 hr). The study period was categorized in three seasons, viz. pre-monsoon (March - June), monsoon (July - October) and post-monsoon (November - February). 2.1 Study site Satchari National Park (24°7'25.65"N 91°27'5.43"E) is a tropical semi-evergreen forest situated in the northeastern part of Bangladesh. This national park contains a partial transition zone between the Indian subcontinent and Indo-Chinese ecological region (Sharma, 2006). The area of the park is about 243 hectares and is comprised of the Raghunandan Hills Reserve Forests within the Satchari Range. It is bordered on the northwestern part by Raghunandan hill reserved forest and on the south by India; other adjoining areas are covered by tea gardens, oil palm trees, lemon gardens, rubber and agricultural fields. The soil texture in general is sandy loam to silty clay and more acidic than the adjacent ecological zones (Choudhury et al., 2004; Uddin et al., 2013). The altitude is generally low with hilltops reaching 104 m above sea level and increasing towards India with elevation reaching 144 m above sea level beyond the border (Uddin et al., 2013). The vegetation type of Satchari National Park is mixed evergreen, with several species of timber, bamboo, grasses, fruits and fodder species (Sultana, 2007). The majority of the smaller understory trees are evergreen and the large dominant trees are deciduous. The climate is generally warm and humid but is cool during the winter. There about 24 families of Tipra tribe are living in the forest. These tribal people used to practice jhum in the forests but this was banned in the early 1980s. Data collection and identification of butterflies The butterflies were observed using Pollard Walk method (Pollard, 1977; Pollard and Yates, 1993) while walking through the roads, streams, forest trails and along the village of the study area. The butterflies were recorded along the route on a regular basis under reasonable weather conditions. Transects were typically about 1-2 km long with a fixed width of 10 m. Transect routes were chosen randomly across all habitat types. Butterflies while collecting nectar and puddling on mud, excreta, carrion, and rotten fruits were also noted. Periodic flower production of the nectar plants or phenology in the study area were also studied in transects in each month. Butterflies were identified with the help of field guides by Evans (1927) and Kehimkar (2008). Butterflies were photographed by Canon DSLR 600D and 55-250 mm lens for further identification. In some cases, butterflies were captured that could not be identified directly by using insect collecting net. All scientific names and common names follow Larsen (2004) and Kunte (2000). Classification of butterflies is after Wynter-Blyth (1957). Nectar plants were identified by Pasha and Uddin (2013), Arefin et al. (2011) and Mukul et al. (2007). Weather parameters (temperature, humidity and rainfall) of the study area were recorded using AcuRite 01098R Weather Station. 2.3 Data analysis The diversity indices of butterfly abundance were analyzed seasonally. Shannon-Weiner Index (H) This index (Shannon and Weiner, 1948; Magurran, 1988, 2004) addresses species diversity among different seasons during the study period. H= - ∑pi × ln pi Where, Pi is the proportion of species records of the ith species in the total sample.

Source of Information: Arthropods, 2018, 7(3): 53-68 E-mail: sazzad.jnu403@gmail.com

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Butterflies are very sensitive to changing of climatic factors, e.g. temperature, humidity and rainfall Temperature was positively correlated to the total number of butterfly species which is comparable with Ojianwuna (2015) and Kumar et al. (2017). Higher temperature might influence butterfly life cycle, distribution and abundance. It has also impact on the fitness, migration, reproduction and ultimate survival of butterflies. Humidity and rainfall have significantly negative correlation with the total number of species in many studies which was also in line with the present study. This might be related that heavy rainfall often accelerate the mortality of adult butterflies. Moreover, butterflies are more active in sunny weather, so this may be a rationale that the number of butterfly species are antagonistically correlated with the humidity.

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